Jacob Ridley
Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog. From there, he graduated to professionally breaking things as hardware writer at PCGamesN, where he was one half of a popular weekly YouTube show. He would go on to run the team as hardware editor before joining PC Gamer's world-class staff as senior hardware editor. Today, he's managing editor of the hardware team, and you'll find him spending his days reporting on the latest developments in the technology and gaming industries. He's found reporting from floors, benches, and, if he's lucky, plush press rooms at the biggest tech shows, such as Computex and CES. But more often than not he's hunched over the office test bench evaluating the newest PC components.
When he's not writing about GPUs and CPUs, you'll find Jacob trying to get as far away from the modern world as possible by wild camping.
Latest articles by Jacob Ridley
![Sabrent Rocket 2230 and WD Black SN850X SSDs](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nnVn3PFZ5gZLLDR9zpeX8i-320-80.jpg)
Best M.2 SSDs for gaming in 2024
By Jeremy Laird last updated
High speed Our choices for the best NVMe SSDs give you blisteringly fast load times.
![The best SSD for gaming buying guide header with two NVMe SSDs and a recommended logo](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/znNcHLK5XbKt54m7kv39CJ-320-80.jpg)
Best SSD for gaming in 2024
By Jeremy Laird last updated
Speedy storage Give your gaming PC a serious speed boost with the best SSD for gaming.
![HyperX Cloud III Wireless gaming headset on a desk](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Dp8nDpHpxifGapS7m2RYUX-320-80.jpg)
HyperX Cloud III Wireless review
By Jacob Ridley published
Cloud Beta Not the convincing wireless gaming headset I was hoping for.
![A meta mock-up of what the Xbox styled Meta Quest headset could look like.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yMpNNUP93wmiZMBuAxRZRn-320-80.jpg)
Meta is creating a Quest VR headset in the style of an Xbox, which probably means it's black with a bit of green
By Jacob Ridley published
News We don't know what it looks like yet, which means there's a chance we're all surprised.
![EK's CEO in an apology video.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/LT9JzpMMx8x5yqXSNikUjB-320-80.jpg)
EK admits fault for financial issues facing employees and business partners: 'We are committed to fulfilling our financial obligations and regaining your trust'
By Jacob Ridley last updated
News EK's CEO and founder, Edvard König, has released a statement on the financial difficulties alleged by various reports over the previous five days.
![Two of the best PC joysticks, the Thrustmaster Warthog flight stick alongside a Logitech G X56 HOTAS, on a two-tone grey background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/iTYFMMwhvZn6x6aaRx2ywS-320-80.jpg)
Best PC joysticks in 2024: these are my top picks for everything from flight sims to space shooters
By Dave James last updated
Locked On The best PC joysticks take you to new heights.
![Meta Quest 3 headset on my head.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aQmvze5Lctoaj5VGMj9JKG-320-80.jpg)
Asus is creating the VR 'gaming headset of the next generation' built on Meta's Horizon OS lifted off the Quest 3
By Jacob Ridley published
News An ROG branded virtual reality headset built on Meta's OS? This I have to see, though we don't know much about it yet.
![Gigabyte G5 (2023) gaming laptop on a white desk](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6WiQugkAwbJKW8drrDcBiJ-320-80.jpg)
New rules to massively strengthen EU's right to repair successfully pass through European Parliament with 584 votes for, just 3 against
By Jacob Ridley published
News The new rules will give customers new ways to claim support for a product throughout its lifetime, and also aid independent repair shops.
![The PC Gamer buying guide to the best racing wheels](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/q6NoywRZc3mHTmM6ma7G7n-320-80.jpg)
Best PC racing wheels in 2024: my favorite direct drive and budget steering wheels for sim racing
By Jacob Ridley last updated
Driven Speed away with the best PC racing wheel for gaming.
![Intel's first High NA EUV tool set up.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6TNzpBAZcccTewcNUDc2cY-320-80.jpg)
There are few easy ways to get across the incredible complexity required to build a modern computer chip: this photograph is one of them
By Jacob Ridley published
News Makes you realise we'd have a tough job ever getting this technology back if it were, let's say, somehow forgotten.
![Roccat Burst Pro Air gaming mouse with RGB LEDs enabled on colourful deskmat.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UHFQwqUQXGyK3RJY6xodQf-320-80.jpg)
Roccat is gone, replaced by Turtle Beach: 'We felt that time and resources would be best spent focusing under a single brand'
By Jacob Ridley published
News The PC peripheral brand has been fully assimilated into parent company Turtle Beach.
![An ASUS BTF graphics card with the connector up-close.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/LxNXNvaaFRYGKubcfBWQab-320-80.jpg)
Gaming PCs with no visible cables are the boldest design change I've seen in a decade of building computers
By Jacob Ridley published
Look ma, no cables! From motherboards and power supplies sneakily hiding cables, to graphics cards and fans that entirely get rid of them, we're seeing the end of cluttered gaming PCs.
![A modded PS1 inside a portable form factor.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/E42UudRptZNRB5YqqvjfnM-320-80.jpg)
Here's a portable PS1 built from the remnants of an actual console and it only took folding the motherboard 'like a book'
By Jacob Ridley published
News Does this hurt the motherboard?
![Playseat Formula Intelligence - F1 Edition racing seat on a gradient background.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NSZm6S4VZsxmTGftT2Xw3P-320-80.jpg)
Playseat's latest racing seat makes it crystal clear that you like F1, in case a cockpit in your room wasn't clear enough
By Jacob Ridley published
News I still want one, though.
![Star Citizen salvager](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WqmJJ6yxsmAqDLPNfLLeqY-320-80.jpg)
Updated Star Citizen minimum system requirements look gentle but they're more guidelines than actual rules
By Jacob Ridley published
News You still don't want to play this game with less than 32GB of RAM or without a decent CPU.
![An aerial view of Samsung's upcoming Taylor Texas fab site.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/owFUE22gjtAUJJka6Tgr53-320-80.jpg)
US promises Samsung $6.4B to build more chips on US soil, which only increases the chance of a Made in USA GPU at some point
By Jacob Ridley published
News Samsung, TSMC, and Intel are all big benefactors from the CHIPS and Science Act cash the US Government is throwing around right now.
![A screengrab of a video showing someone removing the casing from a semiconductor under a microscope.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/HKeDsUngUQbUnWWG6D7Mt3-320-80.jpg)
My top TikTok account of the minute: this 'guy with two microscopes' that peeps inside computer chips
By Jacob Ridley published
News Ready for your close-up?
![Lenovo Legion Pro 7i gaming laptop on a blue background.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bnCGcm4rgscqzBkVms9sAL-320-80.jpg)
Our favorite gaming laptop is $700 off right now: not a bad price to secure an RTX 4080
By Jacob Ridley published
Deal The Lenovo Legion 7i is down to just over $2,000 over at B&H right now.
![The Glorious D 2 Pro 4KHz/8KHz gaming mouse on a desk.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yVNq4ksC8WrSYEtBj8DUAm-320-80.jpg)
Glorious Model D 2 Pro 4K/8KHz Edition review
By Jacob Ridley published
8K 8,000 Hz polling is wasted on me.
![The Nextorage X Series 2TB drive on a desk.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/maWNGgYgdYhfHSenjTNrck-320-80.jpg)
Nextorage X Series (NN5PRO) 2TB review
By Jacob Ridley published
Cost per GB The fastest SSD for random reads/writes we've ever tested, but for what purpose?
![A Scuf Envision Pro controller on a desk](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FrubAyLacnu2R7mWpwzxUk-320-80.jpg)
Scuf Envision Pro controller review
By Jacob Ridley published
PC first A high-end controller actually designed for PC gaming.
![Acer Nitro 16](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vAk77uWvFipFywhkvr8Big-320-80.jpg)
A 16-inch gaming laptop is desirable but make it an RTX 4070 model for $1,200 and I'm in
By Jacob Ridley published
Deal Acer's Nitro 16 is currently on offer over at Newegg, and it's not just the Nvidia GPU I'm into.